A stone wall separated the two sides. In their previous skirmishes, Lady Simone had come to understand their mutual strengths and weaknesses. Her advantage lay in her innate Internal Energy, while her opponent’s was that unbelievable brute strength and mastery of fist techniques.
If they were out in the open, Lady Simone was confident she could take her down within twenty moves—because the power of Internal Energy isn’t about how hard you punch or slap. Lady Simone, being a woman, practiced the light and nimble school of martial arts. With a casual flick, her energy could slip right into her opponent’s organs. When she used her Lightness Skill, she moved as if gravity didn’t exist, making pure muscle power almost useless. It’s like when the Old Mischief used Void Fist against the Golden Wheel King—even if the King had the strength of ten elephants, he couldn’t turn that into real destructive force.
Plus, innate Internal Energy could be projected through the air, letting her attack from way farther than just arms’ reach. In martial arts, every extra inch is an extra advantage—internal energy masters always win.
But at this narrow cave entrance, Lady Simone didn’t dare step forward. The opening was barely a meter long—she was slim, but nobody’s that slim. If she lost her mobility advantage and took a solid punch, she’d be in deep trouble. No matter how mystical her Internal Energy, without a defensive body technique, one punch would leave her with broken bones and torn muscles.
Besides, the guy on the other side had weird punches and kicks—every time she got hit, her whole body felt off, like her energy was running wild and crashing into itself. If not for that, she would’ve caught them ages ago; she was just being cautious and didn’t dare get too close.
But what, just let them get away like this?
“You’re not getting in,” The Fool said, calm as ever. The stone wall was pretty weird—curved on both sides. The spot he’d punched through was the thinnest part; everywhere else was thicker and tougher. Internal Energy was great, but it wasn’t much use for busting rocks. Even someone who’d mastered Iron Claw could leave some scratches, but digging through a meter of solid stone? You’d die of exhaustion first.
Lady Simone’s eyes flashed as she took a deep breath, sending a sharp whistle through the cave entrance. The echo bounced back and forth, ringing in her own ears. Then she chuckled, “Yeah, I’m not going in—but you’re not getting out either!”
Princess Embroidered Jade peeked over The Fool’s shoulder, first stunned, then sighing. Turns out this wasn’t an exit to the outside, just a medium-sized stone chamber. The walls were dotted with glowing specks, like stars embedded in the stone—gorgeous, but sadly, not a single way out.
“Little brother, if you want some alone time with Princess Embroidered Jade, I won’t stop you,” Lady Simone called. “But after all that chasing, I’m a bit hungry. I’ll go grab a snack. If you two get bored in there, come out and play with me!” With that, her voice faded into the distance, like she really had left.
But The Fool didn’t take the chance to escape, and Princess Embroidered Jade didn’t suggest running either. The situation was super awkward—one side didn’t dare come in, afraid of getting stuck and KO’d halfway; the other side didn’t dare go out, since the dark cave was Lady Simone’s turf, and nobody knew where she might pop out for a sneak attack. Heck, it was hard to tell if she’d actually left at all.
The Fool gently set Princess Embroidered Jade down by the wall. He started scooping up scattered stones, thinking to block the cave entrance. But one look at Princess Embroidered Jade made him give up—this dead-end cave needed a big enough air hole.
Princess Embroidered Jade glanced down at herself and let out a bitter laugh. Her long skirt was pretty much shredded, her pale slender legs nearly exposed all the way up. Her top wasn’t much better—her new jacket was torn, showing bits of soft, fair skin. Normally, she’d be screaming, but weirdly, she didn’t even feel like it. After all the chaos, she’d settled into a kind of tired, zen-like calm.
Once she calmed down, her energy went less haywire, and she could move a little.
She couldn’t help but sigh and glanced at The Fool. After being carried all the way, she finally dared to peek at him with one eye open. What she saw made her eyes go wide. The Fool stood quietly at the cave entrance, shoulders broad and steady like a silent dam, his rocky body blocking all the wind and rain. He was wearing big boxer shorts, so her worst fears hadn’t come true.
But what really shocked her were the purple coin-sized bruises all over The Fool’s back. Those were marks left by Lady Simone’s stone-flicking technique—her Internal Energy had invaded, leaving visible traces. Underneath those bruises, wild energy raged; any one of those hits would’ve killed a normal martial artist with less than ten years’ training. Yet The Fool had eight or nine of those bloody bruises, like bullet wounds, making her shudder.
“Hey, come here, give me your hand!” Princess Embroidered Jade called out, a little alarmed. The Fool didn’t take his eyes off the cave entrance, but he turned and offered his hand. As he moved, Princess Embroidered Jade saw even more crisscrossing ice scars on his chest—leftovers from the Golden Blade King and Flower Shifter’s energy attacks. Her gaze trembled, but she forced herself to lift her arm and, after a moment’s hesitation, grabbed his wrist. The moment their skin touched, she shivered, but quickly steadied herself and sent a bit of true energy into his veins to check.
With a soft snap, Princess Embroidered Jade jerked her hand back like she’d touched a live wire. She looked up at The Fool’s profile, totally stunned. Inside his veins, multiple streams of Internal Energy were battling it out, total chaos. Remnants of Flower Shifter and Golden Blade King’s energy, forty years of Golden Fan Master’s Internal Energy, plus Lady Simone’s innate true energy—all tangled up like a pot of stew. Lady Simone’s energy was the fiercest and most terrifying of all.
Quality-wise, Lady Simone’s Internal Energy was at the third level of innate skill, stronger than the Golden Blade King or Silver Sword King. Quantity-wise, after all those stone-flick attacks and previous fights, it was off the charts. Multiple streams of true energy—especially innate ones—tangled together like that would kill any normal martial artist with forty years of training. But The Fool, who had no Internal Energy and just relied on his dumb brute strength, hadn’t said a word and had carried her all this way!
Even without Lady Simone, the other three streams of Internal Energy were bad enough. The pain of energy clashing inside would make anyone want to die after just a second, but The Fool hadn’t complained at all—he’d even comforted and protected her!
Princess Embroidered Jade stared blankly at The Fool’s profile and couldn’t help but ask, “Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Hurts,” The Fool nodded honestly.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“You didn’t ask.”
His dopey answer made Princess Embroidered Jade burst out laughing—a laugh so beautiful it was like the clouds parting for the moon. “You really are a fool!” she chuckled, shaking her head and sighing, nose tingling a little. She took a deep breath, gathered her focus, and said seriously, “Don’t worry. I’ll rest up a bit, and once I get my Internal Energy back, I’ll heal you. Just hang in there a little longer. That Ten Evil Soul Scattering thing? I want to see if my hundred and twenty years of training really can’t handle it.”
With that, she closed her eyes and sat cross-legged—well, tried to, but with her skirt now a mini, maybe not. Whatever, at the innate level, posture doesn’t matter; you could be sprawled out on the floor and it’d still work. Princess Embroidered Jade focused, first setting things right and fixing her runaway energy.
Once she settled her mind and looked inside, Princess Embroidered Jade realized that the so-called purification liquid The Fool gave her was actually a miraculous treasure. Without that burst of vitality, her energy running wild would’ve really hurt her. Now, as long as she stayed calm, she’d be fine. Innate true energy is the most in-tune with a martial artist’s body, so going haywire isn’t easy. As long as you’ve got a quiet environment, fixing things isn’t hard!
But—
“Princess Embroidered Jade, why so quiet in there? A lonely man and a beautiful woman in one room—your big sister’s just waiting to eavesdrop. Oh, princess, you really don’t know how that works yet? Haha, so pure! Want me to teach you?” Lady Simone teased from outside.
Princess Embroidered Jade’s eyebrow twitched. Yep, with someone like her outside, there was no way she’d get a peaceful moment to recover her energy.
The war of sound was far from over.